Podcast

Crafting the perfect intro

• November 25, 2024

In an interview, Clay Herbert walks Nathan Barry through creating the best answer to the question “So what do you do?”. We have all been asked that at some point when meeting someone new.

Making money from free content

• November 23, 2024

Sam Harris gives away his content for free but still makes money.

Advice, warnings and genetic algorithms

• July 20, 2023

In the Knowledge Project podcast with Adam Robinson there is an interesting observation about warnings.

Stop reading ...

• June 6, 2023

I read a lot but this post is about being encouraged to stop reading.

Design for the few

• June 5, 2023

How do you design a product that is going to be used by a lot of people?

Helping habits happen

• June 2, 2023

In the book Excellent Advice for Living, Kevin Kelly identifies the importance of habits.

Spending coins

• May 23, 2023

This is a great description of the difference between an introvert and an extrovert.

Negative intelligence

• May 21, 2023

It is very easy to do something negative to try and show how intelligent we are.

What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?

• May 5, 2023

I have a fear of failure … to an extent. I guess I am a little risk averse.

Story bank

• May 4, 2023

Life is made up of stories.

Emmy Sobieski mentions this in her interview for Stanford’s eCorner podcast:

Giving second chances

• May 2, 2023

Sometimes people need a second chance.

In the Simon Sinek interview with Leland Melvin they talk about giving a second chance to an employee and how they can sometimes turn out to be the best employee.

Don't tell your friends

• May 1, 2023

Andy Weir is one of my favourite writers. I have read most of his books. However he claims he doesn’t like the writing process.

Going above and beyond

• April 30, 2023

What does going above and beyond look like?

In a previous post I highlighted the difference between service and hospitality. This was based on a podcast with Will Guidara where he talked through how he got his restaurant, Eleven Madison Park, to be voted the number one restaurant in the world by focussing not just on the food but the overall experience.

The difference between service and hospitality

• April 29, 2023

What is the difference between service and hospitality?

I have had a book on my Amazon wishlist for a while - Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara. I’ve not read it yet but I came across a podcast where he was interviewed by Simon Sinek so it piqued my interest.

Podcasts with bookmarks

• April 27, 2023

I listen to quite a lot of podcasts. I have been using Spotify but recently switched, most of the time, to using an app called Snipd.

Decide who decides

• February 12, 2023

As many of my posts start, I was listening to a podcast. This was a startup founder who was talking about the company she started with a partner and how they handled decisions where the two of them didn’t agree about something.

Strategies for starting something new

• February 4, 2023

Most people struggle with the blank page and starting something new. This episode of the podcast Spark & Fire has snippets from interviews with 5 different people and how they start something new or overcome writers block.

Information - Organisation - Application

• September 28, 2022

“Put everything you know out for free but in a random order”.

Preparation meets opportunity

• June 13, 2022

Another podcast … I was listening to Guy Raz interview General David Petraeus on the “Wisdom from the top” podcast. Towards the end he made the observation that luck is where preparation meets opportunity. This implies the more prepared you are then the more “lucky” you will be when opportunities arise.

Creativity modes

• May 27, 2022

I recently discovered the Huberman Lab podcast so I have been working through the back catalogue. I was listening to one on creativity and mentioned that creativity is effectively taking existing elements and rearranging them in novel ways. It highlighted that there are two parts to creativity - creating/discovery and linear/implementation.

Are you considering time sensitivity?

• May 24, 2022

Somethings in life are time sensitive and some are not. A business opportunity may be time sensitive in that it will only be a success when certain things are aligned or maybe new technologies are available.

Is fear of failure really the fear of judgement?

• May 18, 2022

In the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho there is a quote “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” This ties in nicely with an observation from Gino Wickman in a podcast with Lewis Howes (School of Greatness) recently. He observed that in a lot of cases the fear of failure is really a fear of judgement.

Is it time to renew your novice permit?

• May 17, 2022

When I feel I am no longer learning I know it is likely time for me to either look at how my current role can change or time to look for a new role.

How can a forcing function help me achieve things?

• May 16, 2022

In the David Perell podcast with Daniel Gross they also talked about forcing functions. They started by discussing why Israel seems to be so strong in the tech industry and whether their unique circumstances may be the cause. They talked about how they approach problems as they are forced to deal with the consequences if they don’t - compared to other nations that try to solve problems as they may be impacted by them at some point in the future.

Is the level too hard?

• May 15, 2022

I have been interested in the use of gamification to achieve things for a while. Given my son’s love of the Xbox I have also wondered if it could be used in some way to help him study.

Building a collection of habits

• May 14, 2022

I have followed the writing of David Perell for a while and recently listened to some of the podcasts he has recorded. Somehow I stumbled on one with Daniel Gross. Towards the end of the podcast David mentions his aim to build the largest collection of habits he can.

Making technology less manipulative

• February 14, 2018

This was an excellent podcast on the ethics behind some of the decisions being made about technology today. The whole talk is excellent and thought provoking however for me one part (about 27 minutes in) stood out:

The little things in films can make a big difference

• January 30, 2018

I listen to a lot of podcasts (probably 500+ a year) and one I make an extra effort to listen to every episode is 99% Invisible. It is “about all the thought that goes into the things we don’t think about — the unnoticed architecture and design that shape our world.”